A Galaxy at War
= Foreword = These are records from the original AGaW threads posted by AlphaCommando. These are being used as reference as Galaxy613 works on bringing AGaW into the videogame form. The wording is still in the form of a forum thread and from AlphaCommando's point of view. YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO GALAXY613 IF YOU CHANGE ANYTHING IN THIS AND IF YOU AREN'T ALPHACOMMANDO OR WARPER = Game Mechanics = This wargame will shy away from the old “tech races” from the other wargames and move into unit development, micromanagement and strategy. This game is a wargame based in naval engagements; players will create new ships, build them, and then use the fleets to conquer the galaxy. The game has a lots of numerical data (most of which I will keep track of) making it as fair and unbiased as possible. Players will command one of four armies, each with its own specialties, skills, and styles of play. Reserve spots now too. Turns will rotate GSC > GLA > Warpstorm > Terakuran. Commanders make the actual build moves and sub-commanders are to give advice and use the second (or third) fleet (this allows you to command two or more fleets independently). Commanders should (I will make note of people blowing off their sub-commanders) work with their sub-commander(s) to come up with new ship designs, how to enact a turn, and what plans of attack to make. Basic game play Factions will start with 3 planets under their control and one Flagship (a massive hero-like warship) for each commander on their team. You will then have to develop new warships (described later) and build massive fleets with which you can conquer. Random events and other game changing events will happen “as needed”. Tech research is minimal, new tech will take ages to develop and will be massively draining. Fleet strength and location will be kept from your enemies (unless they are spying and what not) along with a fleets firepower and capabilities. Most factions start each turn with 25 build points (they can accumulate) with which to start construction on new units, after construction is started it will take time (depending on the class and firepower of the ship) to finish before the ship is used. Ships can only be built at a planet with a shipyard that has open construction slots (different sizes of ships take up different numbers of slots), certain shipyards have more slots or abilities than others and having the sight shipyard is important. Build points are also used to build defenses, shipyards, and other special things on planets. Your number of build points can fluctuate with the building of special buildings and techs, as can the enemy have a negative impact on build point gain. Engagements are obviously fought when you invade an enemy planet, or NPC owned planet, they can also be fought in deep space if it occurs. Victory happens by taking out the Home and secondary systems of all your enemies. The Battle This is the bread of the game, individual engagements can be highly important if they open up lynch pins or resource deposits. Each battle will be fought slowly and methodically until one navy retreats or is annihilated. Once an engagement starts you will get basic (albeit incomplete) data on enemy strength, you will PM me your battle strategy for the round and I will mix common sense based on fleet and planet defense strength, some algorithms I made, strategy, and some dice throws to uncover the result of the first round, the commanders will then be notified of their situation and the next round will start and so on and so forth until the battle ends. The morale of your men is a highly important combat mechanic, men who are terrified by the enemy or are massively outgunned will break ranks and fight with less cohesion and efficiency, using good tactics and delivering words of encouragement before and during battle can cause men to fight with brutal efficiency and abandon. Due to the morale system; sometimes retreating to regroup and refortify is a good idea so that valuable ships and men aren't wasted. Veteranage System As it should be, the more engagements a crew survives the more able they will be (just a factor based on common sense I will take into account, for example; an Elite crew will increase a ship's performance in their section several fold). The Veternage system will go (this is the base leveling up system, it changes based on use of the crew); *Start: Green *1st engagement: Regular *3rd engagement: Experienced *6th engagement: Veteran *10th engagement: Elite *15th engagement: Heroic The crews are also placed into sections, each gaining veteranage at a different rate based on how the ship is used (the comm crew of a scout ship will go up faster than that of an artillery ship, whose gunnery would fly up). Here are the sections; Gunnery: Obviously makes weapons more accurate an effective, levels up faster by more weapon usage. Marines: Increases in level, defend the ship from boarders and makes boarding more effective, levels up faster by getting boarded and boarding. Engineering: Increases ship's overall efficiency and controls damage recovery (also increases shield recovery), levels up faster by taking hull and shield damage Comm/electronics operators: Increases ship's overall sensor-related abilities and gunnery accuracy, levels up faster on scout ships. Fighter pilots: Increases the overall survivability, firepower, and efficiency of fighters. High level bombers can literally disassemble even the largest warships, and high level fighters will rip up any other small craft. (only on ships with fighters) Command staff: Increases all other crew bonuses, and grants morale bonuses, levels up faster after escaping from a lost engagement. Crews can be transferred from ship to ship, allowing you to take handpicked elites from other ships to serve on your new battleships and other advanced warships. Ship Building Look in the shipbuilding thread for more info. Research While research is limited in this game mainly to improving existing concepts rather than inventing whole new weapon systems (not to say you can't work on that), it can be a very important part (possibly). You will PM me what you want to work on and where, then you can construct a research facility there, this will take a certain amount of build points per turn depending on how big the project is. BE AWARE; enemies can infiltrate your research facilities and funnel data to themselves, thus spending points on good security is paramount in some cases. Also; if a planet is attacked, you can chooses the possibility of destroying your work to prevent the enemy from getting it, trying to escape with it (however; there is a possibility that it will get captured), or you could wait out the battle and hope you win, however; if you lose in this case you enemy will get the research. In all research is very open, have an idea you want to research, PM it to me and I'll say wither or not it is viable and how long it will take and for what cost. Planet Descriptions All planets in the galaxy are in some way fitted into a classification. Some planets grant bonuses and planets ranked with multiple ranks often give huge advantages. Most planets listed are the only inhabitable planet in the system, if there are many or the system its self in unique it will be noted. (I hope to have 50+ planetary system for the game). ---Strategic values: These are planets that are given a highly important tactical value, this is merely a designation and says nothing about the planets ecosystem or terrain. *Home system: This is the seat of power for your coming galactic world order and your primary fleet command headquarters. Heavily defended (hopefully) and highly important, these systems are a main target with which to deliver the killing blow to a navy. Taking a home system reduces an enemies build point gain by 25 points and reduces their fleet's effectiveness for the rest of the game. Power is then moved to the secondary system (if it hasn't been captured). *Secondary System: Typically your largest command base or the primary staging point for your army. Heavy defended; this is your last stand if your home system falls to the enemy. If your secondary system is captured and your home system has been captured you will loose the game and all your system will become neutral. This designation can be moved once every 5 turns and cannot be moved while under attack. *Ship design compound: This title goes to whatever system contains your largest shipyard (and becomes definitive after you build a supreme shipyard) and this is where most development of new ship designs are created. If your home system is captured and you don't have a supreme shipyard, you are unable to produce any new ship schematics and thus no new ship classes can be conceived. *Research and weapons testing planets: This title goes to any planet you decide to build a large R&D facility on dedicated to the development of new or enhanced weapons (the ladder is more common). Research that happens at these dedicated systems happens faster, however; this places a "please invade me" sign over the planet. ---Ecosystem or use: These definitions describe the planets use or ecosystem in relevance to its importance to civilization. *Urban worlds: Planets seething with a populace living in massive nearly planet-covering cities. These hyper-populated worlds are the most densely populated place in the galaxy. A few urban worlds cover entire planets and are covered in buildings miles from the actual surface of the planet. (think Holy Terra or Corasaunt) *--Bonus: Raises ship cap by a randomized amount. *Agri-worlds: Planets often covered in lush plant life, having a stable planet-wide ecosystem, and excellent growing soil. Low in population, mainly because most of the planet is machine run plantations these planets are often targets for less honorable factions if they hope to starve and enemy as agri-worlds produce 94% of all food produced in the galaxy. *--Bonus: None (too complex for a real one) *Mining worlds: Often times mostly uninhabitable or once habitable planets that were crushed under industry. Turned to brown wastelands covered in strip mines, quarries, and cratered land. Rich in important minerals and metals these are important targets in war. *--Bonus: Randomized BP bonus *Specialized mining worlds: Sometimes lacking in generic minerals or important materials but supplying some kind of highly valued or rare material not found on very many or any other planets. *--Bonus: 1 (or 2) certain material(s) becomes "cheaper" (material discovered after takeover) *Forge worlds: Pretty much an Urban planet covered in factories and production facilities rather than city. (Not to say Urban planets don't have factories...) *--Bonus: Randomized high BP bonus + 2 automated shipyards (in system) *Tourist worlds: Not really useful resource or population wise, these planets are often paradises that cater to wealthy patrons or the masses. *--Bonus: none *Wastelands: Sometimes devastated by war, mining that has long left or just the course of the galaxy, these planets are often time unlivable, barren, god forsaken rocks that have a very small (and hearty) population, if any. *--Bonus: none *Asteroid fields: Not truly planets but one of the few non-terrestrial bodies of much use. These common (typically found is systems with other planets) masses of rocky bodies are very rich in minerals are very useful for mining (more so than most mining planets). *--Bonus: Randomized low-high build point bonus (possible specialized mineral) *Volcano worlds: While being covered in lava might normally be a terrain description, these planets are often of renown enough to merit a separate description. Often the result of strong gravitational forces constantly drawing mantle rock and metal to the surface, these planets are harder to mine from but yield great rewards. *--Bonus: Cheaper Volcanite and randomized BP bonus *Common planets: Not truly special in any way these planets would be considered great places to live or work but don't really have a definite value in the galactic theater. Think modern earth; except cleaner and with the technology of this universe. *--Bonus: none = Ship Construction = Ship Classes All warships fill a category and thus a niche in battle. Here lists the classes of warship and their general characteristics (and thus limits) to be defined as such. Keep common sense in mind when adding parts of the hull (a Corvette can’t pack a class 7 turbolaser and 100 torpedo tubes). The ships are categorized by tonnage/mass. Most ships have a special effect in battle, if so it is listed here, along with any major restrictions on it (Most ships of the medium and above classes can have hangars, not very big ones however). Light warships Lightly armored and armed, these ships are often used less for direct combat and more for specialized roles. • Corvette A light warship, typically very fast and equipped with an inordinate number of engines. Lightly armored, they are rarely used in large battle due to their fragility. Scouting and anti-fighter screening are common uses. * Attributes: Fast, light armor, multiple light laser emplacements, advanced sensors, low heavy firepower * Restrictions: Can’t possess more than 2 dual class 5 turbolasers, no torpedo tubes, limit of 10 small missile pods, light shield limits. * Special: Groups of three or fewer Corvettes can scout a system without enemy knowledge, unless they have sensor nodes in place. • Frigate A smaller warship, larger than a corvette but still of low tonnage, equipped with decent firepower, armor and speed, but still relying on speed to fight. Typically used to vanguard larger, slower ships, or for raiding/protecting convoys. * Attributes: Fast, lighter armor, limited heavy weapons and torpedoes • Scout Ship A weak, small, fast and almost armament-less ship designed for espionage, carrying a bay full of probes, these ships fill a corvette like recon role, but not much else. Most have optical camouflage to aid in their operations. * Attributes: Highly weak in combat, optical camo, very fast. * Restrictions: can only mount a few light weapons * Specials: Same effect as Corvette (but is less likely to be detected by a sensor node), can deploy probes. • Torpedo Ship * A corvette-sized warship specializing on quick firing runs against heavier warships to damage them. Very lightly armored but very fast and armed with few weapons beyond their torpedoes. * Attributes: Fast, very light armor, numerous torpedo/missile tubes, few other weapons * Restrictions: No turbolasers, and only a few lighter cannons. Medium warships Usually the most common classes in a fleet, not a fragile as light warships but not as expensive and hard to construct as heavy classes. Cruiser Medium sized warships that are often the grunts of a fleet. Balancing firepower, armor, shielding, and weaponry into a package of high versatility. * Attributes: Average stats across the board, fewer heavy weapons. * Variants: * Missile cruiser: A cruiser variant replacing a majority of weapons for large numbers of missile pods and torpedo tubes. * Assault cruiser: Equipped with numerous short-range weapons, fast engines, powerful generators, and heavy shields (to compensate for lessened armor). These ships boost ahead to close the gap with the enemy fleet and do crippling damage to vital systems before the enemy can react. * Battle cruiser: A cruiser that falls short of a heavy weight classification, it packs all around better stats than a Cruiser; better protection, better weapons and is faster. Pretty much a smaller battleship. Destroyer Larger and more powerful warships, these heavy hitters exchange a more varied payload for more powerful anti-capital ship weapons and heavy armor. Equipped with large guns to decimate ships larger then themselves and hold off ships several times their size, they are often vulnerable to fighters and bombers due to a lack of defensive weaponry. * Attributes: Heavier armor than cruisers but slower, numerous heavy weapons in exchange for few defensive weapons. * Special: Can have 1 or 2 class 8 or 9 cannons * Variants: * Missile destroyers: A destroyer version of the missile cruiser * Fighter destroyers: Almost the exact opposite of a normal destroyer; these ships forgo heavy weapons for a huge arsenal of anti-fighter emplacements that can rip squadrons to shreds with ease. Designed to protect large venerable ships. Monitor A heavily armored and shielded warship designed to soak up firepower for lighter ships while still being faster and more maneuverable than heavy classes. * Attributes: Heavier armor and shields, balanced speed and firepower Heavy warships Found in numbers larger armadas or as the command ship for smaller fleets. Showing off heavy armor, larger hangars, and numerous heavy weapons, they eclipse light warships by magnitudes in the hundreds are fearsome war machines. Carrier The proverbial hornet’s nest of fighters, bombers and other small craft. Plodding and lightly armed themselves, carriers rely on their large bays of craft with which to swarm the enemy and their heavy armor to protect themselves in engagements. Capable of repairing their own fighters and others in the fleet, these ships keep the fighters of a fleet in good condition even during combat. Equipped with large squadron control computers, carriers help make the operations of fighters more efficient and deadly. * Attributes: Heavy armor, light armament, slow, large hangars and capable of maintaining vast numbers of fighters. * Special: Gives a bonus to your fighter’s attributes in combat. Battleship Heavy warships that are used as the flagships for admirals and the rallying point and inspiration for other ships in battle due to their power. Coated in heavy armor and weapons emplacements, these ships can decimate numerous lesser ships with no problem. Their heavy shield can take enormous punishment, leaving the ship unharmed but by large quantities of massed firepower. They usually have medium sized hangars to protect themselves from their number one enemies; bombers, whose armor busting bombs can take out even these large warships if they lack good anti-fighter gun turrets or other defense escorts. * Attributes; Descent speed (fastest of the heavy classes) and less maneuverable than lighter warships. * Special: Increased morale to your fleet, alternately you suffer a morale setback if destroyed. Dreadnought Massive, hardened and sluggish, these warships are protected so well that they seem invincible and can only be harmed by huge quantities of firepower. Equipped with a smaller number of supremely powerful weapons (compared to a battleship) the slow moving dreadnought is like a mobile defense station. The ability of these ships to lay waste to entire fleets makes them high-priority targets, and enemy gunners will often focus attention on the dreadnought while leaving other ships less noticed and thus freer to act. * Attributes: Very heavy armor and shields, smaller number of very powerful weapons. * Special: Draws fire away from allied ships and on to themselves, distracting enemy attention, allowing other ships to act more freely. Superheavy warships These rare monstrosities are so huge and so massive that very few people ever have the chance to command one. Highly rare in the GSC and GLA navies, these powerful ships are wielded by the Warpstorm and Terakuran navies far more freely. Blotting out the sun and inducing fear in all before them, these ships can lay waste to entire fleets without assistance, highly hard to build, the mere possession of one in battle can cause surrender at the sight of one and empower those who it is under. (All types give a morale boot to your men and a morale dampener to your enemy). Supercarrier Massive carriers large enough to release so many fighters that they have been called “plague ships” because they seen to spread everywhere and over all. Crawling into battle to engulf the enemy whole, these heavy armed and armored ships just operate with impunity in the midst of battle. * Attributes: Very heavy armor and good firepower, massive quantities of docked fighters and the like. * Special: Same as the carrier but on a larger scale * Variants: * LAC carrier: Specially designed supercarriers created to deploy large quantities of the large “Light Attack Craft”, miniaturized warships that are a few times larger than a gunboat and possess exceptional firepower, speed, and protection for their size. Annihilator Dreadnought (aka Superdreadnought) Invulnerable to all except massed firepower from the most powerful guns available, these juggernauts can take massive punishment without so much as a sneeze. Expensive in the extreme and ridiculously hard to make, these ships are portent psychological weapons, as they provide cover for allied ships, empowering their crews, the enemy becomes increasingly disheartened as their fire harmlessly dissipates against the Dreadnought’s armor…Before they themselves are engulfed in overwhelming return fire. * Attributes: Ultra-strong armor and outrageous firepower, very slow * Special: Additional morale damage to enemy Obliterator (restricted class) Ancient texts and carvings found on a number of planets across the galaxy point to the existence of an ancient race of vastly powerful aliens who ruled the galaxy with all other sentient species under their thumbs…before a great plague drove them to extinction. The Qualmok as they are now known where of almost god-like power, and possessed ships that were so powerful that only a few could conquer the modern galaxy. The frighteningly powerful “Obliterator,” as it is known, has yet to be replicated as it is impossible to create with modern shipbuilding technology. It is said that the technology to create them or even a few derelict ships still exist somewhere in the galaxy, however; this has yet to be proven…for now. Specialty ships There are a few classes of ships that while still having a tonnage rating fail to fall into a defined class, most have highly specialized uses and are only found in large fleets or used alone for certain purposes. A tonnage rating is still included for reference. Fireship (medium to heavy) A larger warship, especially slow and vulnerable, but having the same use as artillery in land battles, these ships provide super accurate, super-long-range fire support as needed. Fireships are made up of a number of high yield reactors, a low profile hull, and some low-power engines and anywhere from one to a few large scale cannons. Packing huge guns, these ships can obliterate large vessels in a few blasts, however; they are ill suited to deal with fighters and other warships should they reach the fireship, thus leaving commanders torn between offering them protection they may not need or leaving them without a guard. A good fireship can blow critical systems (like a reactor) off of a large warship from up to 10 light minutes away. * Attributes: Medium armor and shield ratings, very slow, a few huge long-range guns with unbeatable accuracy, and few other weapons. * Special: Can carry any weapon, of any class or type Mobile Repair Yard (MRY, heavy to superheavy) A flying mess of scaffolds, girders, and gantries, these ungainly craft can make any number or repairs on any ship in a fleet even in combat, ensuring that a fleet is a maximum capability. Only incapable of producing ships on the spot, MRYs can perform massive overhauls on warships that are in systems that lack a friendly shipyard. A properly defended MRY can increase a fleet’s efficiency and allow them to outlast the enemy in large-scale, long-term engagements. The ships must be well protected as only a few heavy turbolaser strikes will break them apart. * Attributes: Very few self defense guns, excruciatingly slow, equipped only with basic particle shielding. * Special: It’s kind of obvious… Mobile Construction Yard (superheavy) (Warpstorm navy exclusive) Absolutely huge MRYs that are large enough and well equipped enough to be able to fabricate warships and planetary defenses. Used by Warpstorm naval commanders to quickly construct defenses on a newly conquered planet, they are quite capable of building most warships. * Attributes: Same as MRY but far larger * Special: Same as MRY, but also acts like a basic shipyard (described later) when not in combat. Forge Ship (superheavy) Massive floating factories/biospheres, these ships contain a number of features that allow a fleet supplied by a forge ship to operate long stretches of time (or even infinitely) without a visit to a home port for repairs and restocking. * Attributes: Extremely heavy armor and shields, slow, poor-average offensive/defensive weaponry. * Special: Similar but lessened effect to the MRY, greatly enhances the effects of the MRY(s) considerably if in the same fleet. Interdictor Cruiser (medium) A cruiser that has most of its weapons stripped from it (save a few anti-fighter cannons) and mounts a few Interdictor generators (described later) to which all of its power is diverted, leaving the ship unable to move. These ships are vulnerable when activated and thus may be protected for a desperate enemy charge once they find they are unable to escape. * Attributes: Cruiser-level abilities, however; most weapons have been stripped for Interdictor generators. * Special: Can operate with more Interdictor generators than most ships. Ramship (GLA exclusive, light) Automated (or suicidally piloted) ships designed to make kamikaze strikes against warships of considerable power, hoping to take them both out in a massive wave of kinetic energy. Appearing to be mere frigates, these ships have super charged one-time-use boosters and hulls of solid durasteel. Being of little notice until they line up with an enemy warship and fire their boosters, then it’s too late. * Features: highly resilient to damage, ludicrously fast, no weaponry * Restrictions: cannot have any weapons * Special: Suicide charge destroys the ramship and does massive damage to the attacked ship, possibly destroying it. Shield Ship (medium) Typically; stick-like, weakly armored reactors with engines and a specialized shield emitter, these rare and highly expensive ships are capable of rescuing a fleet from destruction if played right. While most shields travel along the hull of a ship, shield ships can create massive, fleet engulfing bubbles of protective energy that can repel any attack. Shield ships must be played right or they shall be caught off guard when their shield wears out after so much time and very little fire is needed to destroy the large number credits sunk into one shield ship. * Attributes: weakly armored, slow, advanced shield projector * Restrictions: no armaments * Special: Supa-Shield! Non-combat units Obviously, ships and that are not used for combat but essential to game play. Cargo/ore haulers Needed to get raw materials all over the galaxy (mainly ore from mining sites going to shipyards). Slow, lightly armored and defended, they must travel in convoys to prevent their destruction or raiding. Needs stats like any other ship. As materials need to be transported from mining areas, convoying these are important. Probes Generic (statless) little buggers that are launched from spying ships to a planets surface, if all goes well they will land on a planet’s surface and scope out defenses and other info for you. They stand a much higher chance of being discovered and destroyed on heavily defended planets. Fighters and non-warship combat units Any craft that is not of warship size but is capable of fighting in combat. The classes of weapons it can use are listed after the name. Interceptor (class 1, 2) A light fast and very useful “dogfight” fighter that can tear most other fighters to bits, useless against warships however. Combat fighters (class 1-3, few missiles) Heavy and the staple fighter for a fleet, heavier weapons and armor than interceptors, also have a small payload of missiles. Fighter-bomber (class 1-3, missiles) Intermediate between a fighter and bomber…. Bomber (class 1, 2, missiles and bombs) Slow (for their size) and heavily armored, these ships are designed to surgically take apart capital ships through precision bombing and removal of critical systems and structural weak points. They fail at fighter combat though. Gunboat (class 1-4, missiles) The largest craft still holding a fighter mantle, built more like very small capital ships these ships are laden with firepower, heavy armor and shields. They can destroy ships many times their magnitude and also take a good crack at most fighters. LAC’s (class 1-5, missiles) The LAC is a non-warp warship class in the Warpstorm Navy and some small single system navies. The LAC is used by the Warpstorm Navy in the same way most navies use fighters, bombers and gunships, the only difference is that a LAC is much more heavily armed, armored but slower and almost as maneuverable. LACs weigh in at anywhere from 5,000 to 25,000 tons. LACs are armed with a variety of weapons ranging from single weapon mounts of cruiser to battle cruiser grade and a number of ship killer missiles to numerous anti-munitions/small craft weapons. The shields on a LAC are about 1/4 of the strength of a Corvette's but its amour is paper thin. The Warpstorm Navy is the only major navy to make extensive use of LACs in an offensive or defensive role. Most WNF fleets have at least one CLAC(a LAC carrier) and some other ship classes carry LACs as well. LACs are used for defense forces, shipping strikes, patrol, screening units, space superiority and anti ship work. Weapons Pew! Pew! Laser Beams! Now on to killing stuff, this list contains all the data you need to pick the proper weapons for your ships. Laser weapons Firing coherently focused energy, these are the most common weapons on any ship from any manufacturer except the Warpstorm who use missiles as their primary weaponry. Using tightly focused gaussian circuitry to condense the light energy into an armor-melting blast o’ doom. Here we shall use a numbered weapon ranking system, with a single number on a scale of one to ten, as it is simple and it works for the mathematical algorithms I have made. A homing laser (or beam laser) is a special type of cannon that has extra large capacitors so that it can sustain a beam rather than firing a burst, this is highly effective at wearing down shields and boring through hull armor. Don’t forget to add flavor to weapons; “2 Dual Borestel 5-6 zz turbolaser turrets” sound much cooler than “2 5-6 cannons”. Keep in mind power requirements and price; the rating goes up exponentially; a class 6 laser weapon is around 1000 times more powerful than class 2, not 3x as powerful! Laser cannons (class 1-4) Basic laser cannons are used in the anti-fighter role and not much else (they can’t puncture heavy warship armor), however; their fast recharge rate and rapid fire make them ideal for this role. Typically used in banks of four on a single fast-tracking turret (or in some cases 6 barrels in Storm Lasers), or in smaller numbers on most star fighters, and average is 4 or so class 3 lasers on non-interceptors. Sometimes, all laser cannons between ranks 1 and 3 are considered point defense lasers despite the fact that class 1 lasers are typically called such exclusively. * Class 1 (point defense lasers): Weak but capable of sustaining a beam for a long time, these lasers shoot down incoming missiles and torpedoes and just a few are standard for any ship of any class. * Class 2 (light laser cannon): Extremely fast recharge rate and low power, used for anti-interceptor cannons. * Class 3 (medium laser cannon): Good balance of firing rate, power, and speed, more useful against heavier fighters. * Class 4 (heavy laser cannon/light turbolaser): The most powerful, can destroy most heavy fighters in a few blasts, the turrets are a bit slower and have a slower firing rate though. Turbolasers (class 5-7) The standard for ship-to-ship combat, capable of punching through shields and melting armor. Powerful but slow firing and with slow turret rotation. Not good for anti-fighter use, however; even a grazing hit can destroy them. *Class 5 (medium turbolaser): Your generic Star Wars turbolaser type thingy. *Class 6 (heavy turbolaser): Larger cannons that pack quite a wallop, standard on the most powerful ships. *Class 7 (disruptor cannon): These matter disintegrating weapons are bigger, farther-reaching, and even more slowly firing than class 6s. Rare on all but Terakuran and GSC navy ships (and even then, still rare on the ladder). Demolisher Cannons (class 8, 9) Typically fixed position guns on destroyers, and used in turrets on large ships, these guns can engulf light warships, cripple medium and even cut up heavy warships given enough time. They are very energy intensive and fire very slowly, however; have exceptional range and power that they make turbolaser look like pea-shooters, fighters anywhere near the beam can be vaporized with ease. (limited to heavy ships and destroyers or fireships) * Class 8: It kills things. * Class 9: It kills things, lots of things. Ship Splitter Cannon (Class 10) Only placed on Annihilator Dreadnaughts and some fireships, these terrifyingly powerful guns shoot beams of condensed light so large and so powerful that they can crack unprepared battleships open in a single blast. The huge maintenance requirements, price, power drain, and slow recycling rate of the weapon make it impractical for all but a few ships. Unspeakably long ranged, often times showing the enemy that you have class 10 cannons trained on his ships will be grounds for a quick surrender as the reputation of these weapons are so great. Exotic Energy Weapons Failing to be able to be placed with the #-# ranking due to unique energy properties or other reasons. Often times they can bypass normal energy shields and thus are very useful against a foe who expects to encounter standard munitions. Plasma weaponry Harnessing the raw power of hyper-charged matter. One of the most conventional exotic weapons. * Plasma cannons: Varying greatly in power, size, and quality. These weapons fire magnetically focused plasma out a large-bore cannon. Similar to Covenant plasma weapons (like in the novels) from Halo * Plasma shellers (Terakuran exclusive): Terakuran interest in plasma has yielded many technologies, one being the new plasma shellers; a marriage of a projectile and plasma. This weapon is fired from an artillery like projectile gauss cannon in a linear fashion at the enemy, the AP shell contains highly unstable “Green Plasma” that is massively destructive to enemy armor. The rounds pass through shields with ease (due to being a projectile) and can inflict terrible damage. Ion weaponry Firing a cohesive beam of ions and rouge electrons, these weapons fry electronics in targeted ships, leaving them floating helplessly in space until the ionization wears off. The weapons vary in size and power; from small starfighter versions to ground based cannons that can shut off battleships in one volley. Most ion weapons require several hits though to disable warships, however; Ion blasts penetrate all but specially calibrated shielding. Antimatter weaponry Similar to plasma cannons in both basic operation and in the fact that they can vary greatly, these weapons can be very destructive, however are known for being incredibly unstable and very deadly if something goes wrong. Projectile Weaponry Any weapon that is not energy based and has a physical interaction with objects. They pass through energy shields with no problem but can be stopped by particle shielding (however; it is highly rare to find particle shields that can repel most projectile weapons) MACs (Magnetic Acceleration Cannons) An aging and dying weapon breed, these weapons which come in many shapes and sizes, but are most often on a demolisher scale, fire heavy metal projectiles at near-light-speed, doing massive kinetic damage upon impact that can rival class 8 weaponry. Overconfident commanders may disregard even a large MAC gun as a threat, until his ship looks like Swiss cheese, but experienced commanders treat them carefully. MACs are typically placed on orbital defense platforms and GSC ships due to their technically infinite range. Missiles Missiles in this game are often used for anti-fighter screening and distractions. Only a few missile classes are used offensively, and these are often carried by bombers. Nuclear, Fusion and in some cases concussion missiles are very large however and are hugely destructive. Horde Missiles (GSC exclusive) Missiles that can fire at very high rates and are armed with varying payload yields. They are found on almost all ships and the round shape of the Horde missile pod is very distinct. They have tracking systems, which are very effective at coordinating attacks with MAC rounds. Designed to swarm the enemy with countless little explosive pests. Torpedoes Large-bore missile that have armored shells and are packed with deadly anti-armor capability. Unfortunately they move quite slow * Missile and Torpedo warheads: * Anti-ship: Similar to modern anti-tank missiles, just using some sci-fiy fluff operation. * Neutron: Rad-missiles that engulf an area in excess cosmic radiation, used to kill pilots out of their fighters. * Fusion: Create a short-lived sun upon detonation, needless to say, expensive but powerful. * Nuclear: A nuke, old but cheaper and with great damage * Concussion: Sends shockwaves through the hull of the target, weakening or displacing hull plates and framework. * Conventional: Explodes with the use of an explosive chemical compound, most common type and used to destroy fighters * Brutanium: An expensive anti-fighter missile that explodes a pre-calculated distance from a squadron of fighters, sending out high-density metal shards that perforate the unlucky craft. * Antimatter: Similar to antimatter weapons but in missile form. Autocannons Autocannons have the advantages over lasers of being cheaper, faster tracking, and packing a specialized payload, however; since they are less advanced weapons they are typically weaker than a laser of similar size. GSC ships use them on some of the older ships while the other navies and the modern GSC have dropped them. They can still powerful weapons that must not be overlooked. Shields Shielding is the epitome of starship defenses, acting like regenerating armor, able to take punishment and recharge themselves make them your first line of defense in an attack. Even burnt out shields can have their capacitors replaced and be reactivated in under half-an hour in combat. Both variants of shielding work by emitting a field of energy that follows along the hull of the ship a few centimeters from the surface. The shield starts at a primary generator and runs along conduits under the hull plates and stretches across them creating a protected section. When a blast hits it the generator reacts in different ways, for energy shields it, shuns the blasts power to the capacitors in the generator where the blast can be dissipated, too much fire and the overloaded capacitors will burn out, disabling the shield. The resistance of the shield to prevent blowouts depends on the energy supplied to it and its endurance level. In particle shields; the shield “reacts” actively, sending power to the point of impact to disintegrate the physical matter. Well designed warships will have extensively overlapping shields so that in case of a failure the ship is left with a minimal vulnerable area. Energy shields Absorb only energy rounds (like lasers and plasma) are rated by class of protection starting at Type I shields which are very light to Type VII, which can (if adequate power is supplied) are almost unbreakable. Particle shields As described above; particle shields are only good at stopping mass projectiles. Particle shields are always left on to prevent damage from micrometer impacts and debris (unlike energy shields which are activated only for combat due to their power draw). Most particle shields are unable to stop MAC rounds and heavy projectiles, as they are rarely encountered, however a few “kinetic energy blockers” are made that can vaporize even fighters that touch them, these are very rare though. Armor Hull plates keep your ship together and protect from fire if the shields are dropped/disabled; something that is bound to happen. Good armor is important as good shielding and comes in many qualities. The ones listed here go up in quality and thus price; most ships In GSC/GLA navies use Durasteel or Duranium alloys as it is cheap but still offers good protection. An additional refinement to all armor types is the extremely expensive “quantum crystallization” process, in which a metal is heated to near plasma levels then cooled slowly and manipulated to create an unbreakable molecular armor, having a ship with crystallized armor has protection bar none, but can only be put on few ships due to cost constraints. Apart from that listed here you are free to use “real” metals and make composites from fictional + real armor, add ceramic plates, whatever, just describe the characteristics of it to me… * Durasteel: A basic, cheap, and strong metal used in a majority of starship manufacture. * Duranium Alloy: Refined durasteel mixed with refining compounds, stronger and lighter, but more expensive. * Sarcesium: A very strong metal typically used in armor underlays, but can be used for the whole hull. * Carbonium: Typically used to refine and increase the durability of other metals, it can also be used alone. Has the unique ability to absorb vibrations and pressure than any other metal (except Neutranium) but is weaker to laser fire. * Volcanite: Found only on lava worlds, it makes alloys it is mixed into highly resistant to heat. * Lanthite: An expensive metal found in certain asteroid mineral deposits, exceptionally strong and resilient. * Neutranium: Mined from the surface of burnt-out dwarf stars, this hyper-dense metal is the strongest known to man…or alien. Ridiculously expensive. (cheaper of you are in possession of Dwarf system 1-4H) Reactors The reactor of a ship fuels all the systems and is thus very important. Often times it is impractical to install a reactor that can maintain all systems at maximum output during combat, this is an important micromanagement tactic, “Do you divert power to weapons for an assault or do you divert to shields and tank it out*” This list lists different types of reactors, size of a type of reactor can change based on what is needed, however; some rectors are impractical, inefficient, or impossible to shrink or increase in size to fill all needs. Reactors here will be listed with a power output rating (1-10), an instability factor (greater instability can lead to big explosions if the core is breached), and any restrictions. Use common sense when picking a reactor try to balance the ships’ needs. Remember; bigger guns and powerful shields need more energy. Nuclear Fission An old and less efficient reactor type, still has good yield * Power output: 6 * Instability: medium-high * Restrictions: none Antimatter-matter Uses the energy released when mass and anti-mass mix, powerful but dangerous and expensive. * Power output: 9.5 * Instability: quite high * Restrictions: none Nuclear fusion Release the power of the sun! * Power output: 8 * Instability: medium-low * Restrictions: none Antimatter fusion Its sounds even cooler than fusion! * Power output: 9 * Instability: medium * Restrictions: medium weight and up only Kuran Crystal Powered by short-lived but powerful energy crystals found at the hearts of gas giants. * Power output: 9 * Instability: none * Restrictions: crystals must be constantly replaced, making it maintenance intensive and impractical on super-high-draw ships. Pure matter annihilation Turns matter into pure energy. E=MC2 baby. * Power output: 12 (yes, I know the scale is 1-10) * Instability: ZOMG! * Restrictions: Only available for superheavy classes and dreadnaughts Fuel slug burning Burns high-energy concentrated fuel slugs to provide power. * Power output: 4 * Instability: none * Restrictions: great for light warships, but highly impractical for bigger ships. Reactor enhancements These optional add-ons to a ships reactor can make it operate more efficiently, output more, or have other properties, at an additional expense. All add-ons cost +1 build point each (unless stated otherwise) and can be stacked. Plasma Releaser Some additional machinery that converts radiant reactor bleed-off energy into plasma for use by the ships weapon systems. * Restrictions: not useable on Kuran crystal or fuel slug reactors * Bonus: Adds more firepower to an equipped ships plasma weapons and more speed to plasma drives. Tyberium Focusing Crystals Replacing the standard energy transfer conduits, these super-refined, high-energy-tolerance crystals increase the siphoning efficiency of the reactor, increasing power output. * Restrictions: Cannot be used on fuel slug reactors, cost is 2 build points. * Bonus: Extra power to all the ship’s systems. Solar Ionization Booster Absorbs solar radiation through the hull and uses it to spin-charge a high-pressure radioactive gas that is used to energize the gaussian circuitry for heavy laser weapons, increasing firepower. * Restrictions: none * Bonus: Increased heavy weapon range and damage. Fuel Atomizer Increases the efficiency of the burn rate of fuel slug reactors, more power. * Restrictions: only for fuel slug reactors * Bonus: higher reactor output Diterium fuel injectors If you know anything about E=MC2, then you know that more mass is better. Diterium is a high-density, high-energy liquid fuel that yields far more energy than standard liquid plutonium fuel used in matter annihilation and fission reactors. * Restrictions: only for fission and matter annihilation reactors * Bonus: higher reactor output Drive Sources Drives propel the ship via some form of rear propulsion, IE; they are important vital systems of a ship. Engines must be powerful enough to propel a ship, but not so large as they waste energy on a ship that doesn’t need to be fast (however; light warships typically have an inordinate number of powerful drives). Generally, primary drives are mounted at the ship’s axis, or close to it, as such it is often required of the more lumbering types of ship to have off-axis low-power maneuvering drives to increase their turn rate. Here is listed the available engine types and their abilities, all engine types come in all sizes and can be used for both maneuvering and primary drives. Plasma infuser Using the backwards force of low-charge plasma as propulsion, these engines are powerful and easier to manufacture, however; they are energy intensive. * Power: high * Cost: medium * Energy requirements: high Ion stream Lower power engines that are the most common in the galaxy, as they are cheap and efficient. * Power: medium * Cost: low * Energy requirements: low Ion-force-projection A very high power drive, using highly focused ions, these expensive engines offer great speed, and use more energy, however; the magnetic focusing coils are expensive to buy and maintain * Power: high * Cost: high * Energy requirements: medium Matter ionization Using charged, high-energy particles these exceptionally powerful drives are power hungry and maintenance intensive. The fusion coils burn out quickly; leaving the drives less useful in long-engagements unless replacement parts and a facility are nearby. They still make great drives for scout ships whose jobs are often fast and require great speed. * Power: very high * Cost: medium (require lots of upkeep and down time) * Energy requirements: medium-high Pulse ion Light, cheap, and not powerful, pulse ion drives typically are used for maneuvering, or really cheap primary drives… * Power: low * Cost: very low * Energy requirements: low Specialized Upgrades When you give me the data from a ship I will automatically “use” equal quality sensors, gaussian circuitry, life-support, etc. However; if you want more bang for your buck (literally), then upgrade that class with one of these stylish add-ons. (All upgrades cost +1 cost and can be stacked, unless otherwise stated). Hyperadvanced targeting computers Ever wanted to shoot a man out of a fighter from across half the solar system* Well now you can. * Bonus: Increased ability for a ship to strike at critical systems, etc. * High-density gaussian circuitry: Modifying the gaussian on a ship’s cannons can have great results. By adding even more focusing wires to a ship’s weapons, it can increase a weapons power considerably without requiring any more power. * Bonus: Increased damage and range to all of a ship’s weapons Self-destruct systems (limited to ships with reactor instability of 7 or above) A dying crew’s last hope of making the enemy fleet pay for their pain. Overloading the reactors of high-power ships can yield a massive, fleet-disrupting blast. Just get your other ships clear before the captain hits the big red button. * Bonus: speaks for its self Advanced multi-target trackers Modern targeting computers can track dozens of targets, however; in the anti-fighter business sometimes even more is needed. With these a ships can track, lead, and destroy hordes of fighters with ease (given proper weapons). * Bonus: Enhanced anti-fighter capabilities Advanced long-range sensors Typically equipped to corvettes or other scouting ships, these can easily spot units a long way off and can provide unparalleled targeting data to fireships. * Bonus: You get more data about an enemy fleet at the start of an engagement and when scouting. Fireships get a targeting bonus if in the same fleet as a ship with this system. Power management supercomputer (available only on heavy and superheavy ships) Taking millions of terabytes of data that can be processed in battle and adjusts the ships systems automatically for maximum efficiency in combat depending on the situation so that no watt of power is wasted. * Bonus: obvious.. Battle management supercomputer (available only on battleships, dreadnaughts and superheavy ships, price +2): An advanced mega computer that can control battle with eerie machine-like efficiency. Fighters will outmaneuver and coordinate with uncanny precision and capital ships will break through and overtake the enemy. * Bonus: Before a battle turn begins, a commander will receive suggestions on the battle from the computer (me). Interdictor Generators (price: +5): These large bulbous extremities mounted on larger ships create artificial mass gravity shadows that prevent escape by warp drive in the weapons range, it also prevents any ships traveling to the affected area, and any ships in darkspace when the generator is activated are pulled back into real space. They are very power intensive and typically drain all the power of a ship’s systems when activated. * Bonus: Prevents reinforcements from arriving or any retreat (for either side) when activated. Cloaking device (limited to corvette and Scout ship classes, price: +10): Let’s think what do cloaking devices do…Just don’t let the rarity of Igin crystals or their massive price tag knock you over. * Bonus: duh! Gravimetric Crystal Sensor (GCS, price: +8): For every shield there is a counter, this counter in particular defeats cloaking devices. Using equally rare Nigi crystals, these sensors can detect the curvature of space time in the presence of a large mass…like a cloaked ship. However; they cost nearly as much as cloaking devices themselves. * Bonus: Allows you to detect cloaked ships Buildings Obviously; these are stationary structures that you build on or around planets. * Shipyards: You build ships here, they also increase build point gain and offer build slots. Format: “name” (cost to build, how much it increases your build point regain, # of build slots). If there is a section below the primary shipyard that is an upgrade the upgrade cost is displayed after that. * Basic shipyard (2, +2, 3): Cannot build heavy or superheavy ships. * Corvette yard (2, +1, 3): Builds only light ships, however build time is decreased by 15% * Large shipyard (4, +3, 7): Cannot build superheavy ships * Automated shipyard (5, +3, 6): Decreases build time by 15% * Specialized computer (2): Gets an additional 20% reduction in build time for a selected weight class, but is unable to make any other weight class. * Great shipyard (7, +5, 9) * Automation (2): Build time reduced by 15% (conflicts with barracks). * Larger worker barracks (2): Increases this station’s point gain by 2 (conflicts with automation). * Defense systems (1): Grants a small planetary defense bonus when your system is attacked. * Foundry yard (6, 3, 15): Can only build heavy and superheavy ships, grants a build time reduction of -20% * Supreme shipyard (11, 10, 20): Limited to one per navy * Automation (4): build time reduction of -20% * Ultimate Shipyard (10): gives shipyard these stats (gain: 15, slots: 32, -30% build time) * Mining complexes: Offers a build point gain depending on size, planet location, and other factors (gimmie details). * Defense station: With about as many variations as a warship, just rattle off on some stats (size and shielding is a big one). * Sensor nodes: Place a few of these around a system to catch snooping ships and spies, prices vary on quantity and quality. * Ground defenses: Yet again variable, ranging from giant class 10 turrets to planet enveloping shields * Mine fields: Variable…again. I would of course want opinions on any other buildings and what not to add. I really want this game to be approved by the people so they are contented before the game starts. New and improved weapons, ship classes, and what ever are all open, just post a prospect in the thread.